Edward Patrick Morris in Europe

Edward Patrick Morris, 1st Baron Morris (1859 – 1935) was a lawyer and Prime Minister of Newfoundland (The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949). He was born at St. John’s, Newfoundland, May 8 1859, and was educated at St. Bonaventure’s College and the university of Ottawa. In 1884 he was admitted a solicitor and in 1885 was called to the bar (Q.C.1896). The same year he was elected Liberal member for St. John’s. In 1889 he entered the Cabinet, and from 1890 to 1895 was Acting Attorney-General for Newfoundland. From 1893 to 1906 he was director of the Newfoundland Savings Bank. In 1897 he went to England as a delegate to the Colonial Office on the question of the French fishing rights. In 1898 he left the Liberal party and became leader first of the Independent Liberals and later (1908) of the People’s party. In 1901 he again visited England as a delegate, and in 1902 he entered the Cabinet as Attorney-General, afterwards becoming Minister of Justice. In 1904 he was knighted. In 1909 he became Prime Minister, retaining this office until 1918. In 1909 he represented Newfoundland at the Imperial Defence Conference, and filled the same position at the Coronation and Imperial Conference in 1911. In 1913 he was made K.C.M.G., and in 1917 was a member of the Imperial War Conference. The same year he received the freedom of the City of London. In 1918 he retired from the premiership and was raised to the peerage. Lord Morris produced an important legal work known as Morris’s Reports, an edition of the Newfoundland law reports from 1800 to 1904.